There were only a few of us at the cemetery on Monday to bury Lorraine. I didn’t think I would write about this day because it was such a hard day, harder then the day before when her memorial service was held. This day was so final.

A brand new thought came to me today so I’ve decided to write about it after all. Here’s how it went. The Veteran’s Cemetery is the most beautiful cemetery I’ve ever been in. Yes, I’ve been to the National Veteran’s Cemetery in Washington DC. We found where the burial would be, with her late husband, George. A woman from the cemetery was there and the man who did the burying. They were both so respectful and kind to us. It was so sad. There were two containers of dirt beside the hole. The man carefully and lovingly lowered the box and then began carefully putting dirt in making sure it went around it. He didn’t just dump the dirt in, no, he carefully put in small amounts at a time, then tamped it down, added more and repeated the process until he was done. It took a while but he was very patient, careful and respectful. He smiled at us so sadly.

The man happened to be a black man and the thought occurred to me that we still give the black folks the lowest jobs. What is lower than burying someone?

Today, however, a new thought came to me. Lorraine and I often talked about our feelings about black folks. Neither of us is or was prejudiced. We often discussed our dad being the director of interracial evangelism for our general church. We were both so proud of him and knew that he did a good work.

So the new thought that came to me today was this: Lorraine would have been proud and pleased to be buried by a black man, especially one as kind and gentle as this man was. I wish I could tell him so. I hope he knew our thanks were genuine, although this new thought hadn’t come to me on that day. He is my hero!

Share this:

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

About allinadayofme

I can't believe I'm in old age! I'm now in my eighties! I'm a child of God, wife to one, mother to five, grandmother to 15 plus two granddaughters-in-law! I'm a great-grandma now! I'm a sister, aunt, cousin, friend and neighbor. I'm a housewife and former ESL tutor. I love reading and writing. I've just retired from writing and editing a newsletter, Prime Time News, for seniors. I love genealogy, traveling, birds and animals, blogging and taking pictures.

You know what I think……..I don’t think that man thinks he has the lowest job. I think he feels it is an honor and a privilege to pay tribute to our loved ones. That is why he does it which such love and care.

Dying is a lonely journey. Not only for the sick person but also for the family. As hard as we may try to avoid death, the truth is that we do a lousy job of it. Science and medicine will certainly postpone it, even staying healthy might seem to delay it, but the harsh reality is that death does not wait for you, it does not ask you, and it does not listen to you. Death ignores your feelings and wants; you do not matter to death…Death is the only certainty in life! We need to remember that our existence here is fragile, and we never have as much time with people as we think we do. If there is someone or someones out there that you love, don’t neglect that and don’t put off engaging with them because waits for no-one... Vic's Journey ended on 18 January 2013 at 10:35. She was the most courageous person in the world and has inspired thousands of people all over the world. Vic's two boys are monuments of her existence. She was an amazing mother, daughter, sister and friend. I will miss you today, tomorrow and forever my Angle Child.